Equestria Copes

"What the hay, Applejack!" shouted Rainbow. "I'm working over here!"

"No, Ah'm workin'!" retorted Applejack. "Ah'm here under orders from Vesper."

"I'm the one Vesper sent to this location! I'm here to save Scootaloo!"

Applejack turned and looked at Scootaloo's malnourished body. "Bang-up job ye'r doin'..."

As if on cue, Apple Bloom pulled out the still-sealed bottles of hard cider from her bag, looking around to see if there was anypony watching.

"Why is your sister carrying alcohol? More importantly, why is she acting like she stole it?"

"Prob'ly 'cause yer little fascination there put 'er up to it!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't go blaming Scootaloo for Apple Bloom's actions! From what I can see, she may be the one that's been poisoning Scootaloo!"

Apple Bloom uncorked a bottle of the cider and brought it over to Scootaloo. "Here's some more a' that "medicine,"" she said, putting the bottle in Scootaloo's hooves.

As Scootaloo lifted the bottle to her lips, Rainbow tried once more to swipe it away, culminating in nothing.

"Ya can't hope ta do it that way," insisted Applejack. "No wonder Scootaloo's in this state!"

"She was like this when I arrived!" corrected Rainbow. "Except even worse, because she was bound up in a blanket. I managed to drag her out of bed, probably for the first time in awhile!"

"Oh, toot yer own horn louder, why don'cha?! Ah saw Apple Bloom ta school an' made sure she did her learnin'!"

"So, you watched her the whole day?"

"Eeyup."

"Then how come you didn't notice that she stole a bunch of alcohol?"

"Ah did!"

"Then how come you didn't do anything about it?!"

"How's come Scootaloo's still here?"

"Hey, at least I tried to make her move!"

"R... Rainbow Dash?"

Scootaloo's voice immediately called Rainbow's attention away from Applejack's meddling. "It's okay, Scoots. I'm here. I'm listening."

"That's right!" called Apple Bloom. "Ah am Rainbow Dash!"

All attention turned to Apple Bloom, who was wearing a Rainbow Dash Fan Club wig, cardboard wings, and blue face paint.

Scootaloo buried her head in her hooves. "I'm sorry," she wept. "I couldn't do it..."

Applejack turned to Rainbow. "What's she talkin' 'bout?"

Rainbow shrugged. "Beats me. I've been trying to answer that question all day."

"Well, what haven't ya forgiven 'er for?"

"Nothing!" shouted Rainbow. "If it was that easy to figure out, do you really think I'd spend half the day trying to come up with an answer?"

"Ah reckon not..."

Apple bloom sat down next to Scootaloo. "It's okay, Squirt. Ye'r good at other stuff."

"But I still can't fly!" Scootaloo whimpered. "I wanted to help you! To... to do what needed to be done, but I'm not... I'm not good enough! I'll never be good enough!"

She broke down into a sobbing mess right then and there. Applejack turned and looked at Rainbow, but it was hard to see her face through the helmet. Still, the fact that Rainbow lowered her head was evidence enough that she felt shame over what Scootaloo had said.

"Did you ever say that she wasn't good enough?" asked Applejack.

"Never," answered Rainbow. "I said the opposite, in fact. Because I knew she felt that way, and I wanted her to try her best, regardless of whether or not she thought she'd make it."

"So why do ya look so guilty, now?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Because who's going to offer that encouragement, now? Who's going to stand in front of her, hoof outstretched, encouraging her to reach for the stars, while standing amongst the stars to show her that they can be reached?"

"You sound like a crazy pony..."

"Well, maybe I am," admitted Rainbow. "But that's what she wanted; to be like me. And I wanted to show her how to do it."

Applejack snorted and turned back to the fillies they were supposed to be watching.

Apple Bloom was helping Scootaloo drink more. "That's it. This stuff'll make the hurt go away. Ponies use this all the time ta ferget their problems."

Scootaloo eagerly took another swallow, then hesitantly finished the bottle before curling up on Apple Bloom's shoulder. "I don't want to hurt anymore, Rainbow... Without you, I... I don't know who I am anymore..."

Rainbow put a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. Scootaloo reached for it, but her hoof went right through Rainbow's. "You're Scootaloo," Rainbow said confidently. "You're the bravest, fiercest, most awesome filly in all of Ponyville. Maybe even all of Equestria!"

"I'm nothing," she sniffled. "Nothing but a failure. I can't save anyone!"

"Do you know what bravery is?" asked Rainbow, tightening her grip on Scootaloo's shoulder. "It's when you know you're ten laps behind, and you can only make up seven before the race ends, and you still fly, anyway! It's knowing that the other Buckball team is twenty points ahead with only five minutes remaining on the clock and doing everything you can to close that gap! It's..." she looked back at Applejack. "It's knowing that you can always depend on your friends to pull you out of a jam." She sighed. "I'm not brave, like you, Scoots. I hid my cowardice behind always being the best. I poured my heart and soul into being better so that I never had to be brave."

Applejack nodded, and placed a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder, too. "Ah think that, as Equestria's bravest little filly, y'all wouldn't be afraid ta face yer problems head-on. But now, Ah can see that ya need a bit of extra help."

Rainbow moved her hoof over to Apple Bloom's shoulder. "Sometimes, the best thing we can do for our friends is to not help them. Don't abandon Scootaloo, but encourage her to stand on her own four hooves. She has to be able to move forward on her own. But also, be there to catch her if she falls. Pick her up and set her back on the right path, but always remember; she has to be able to stand on her own if she ever wants to support somepony else."

Applejack followed Rainbow's hoof once again. "Y'all know that ya need ta take good care a' yer family. They need ya, and when they're hurtin', ya have ta make it right. Coverin' up problems ain't the same as solvin' 'em; y'all know that. But don't forget, yer friends are like yer second family. Ya need ta take care a' them, too."

Apple Bloom closed her eyes and lowered her head. She hadn't been listening to Applejack all day, but the Apple Family was a stubborn bunch. Perhaps they'd at last made it through?